Florida State tackle Johnson declares for NFL draft

Offensive tackle Rod Johnson, who has been a mainstay on Florida State’s offensive line, will forego his final season of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

Johnson started 31 straight games at left tackle for the Seminoles, who were 10-3 this season and ranked eighth in the final Top 25 poll. He has won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy the past two seasons, which is given to the top offensive lineman in the ACC.

Johnson is the second Florida State player to announce he is leaving early. Running b a c k D a l v i n C o o k , wh o rushed for a school-record 4,464 yards during his career, declared Dec. 31.

Mi c h i g a n ’ s Pe p p e r s going pro: Jabrill Peppers has decided to enter the NFL draft and skip his senior season at Michigan.

The Heisman Trophy final- ist announced his plans Tuesday. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Peppers is projected to be a first-round pick in April.

He did not play for the sixth-ranked Wolverines in a 33-32 loss to Florida State on Dec. 30 in the Orange Bowl because of an injured left hamstring.

Peppers usually played linebacker, one of 15 positions the team says he played l a s t s e a s o n o n d e f e n s e , offense and special teams. Peppers won the Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player.

Ratings down: ESPN says the College Football Championship rematch between Clemson and Alabama drew 680,000 fewer viewers on TV and online than last year’s game, though combined viewership for all the New Year’s Six bowls and title game was up 15 percent.

Clemson’s 35-31 victory against Alabama on Mon- day night got a 14.7 overnight rating for ESPN and a 15.3 rating for ESPN’s MegaCast, which combines viewers for ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Last year’s title game, won 45-40 by Alabama, drew a 15.8 overnight rating for ESPN and a 16.0 for the MegaCast.

The online streaming audience for Tigers-Tide II was up 21 percent, with an average audience of 710,000 viewers.

ESPN says that overall, last year’s game drew 26,709,000 viewers, and this year’s got 26,029,000.

Noteworthy: Junior Ryan Ramczyk is entering the NFL draft after one season at Wisconsin, where he emerged as an All-American left tackle after transferring from Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point. ... Ohio State hired former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson as co-offensive coordinator with the newly hired Ryan Day.